Investing in Begbies Traynor Group (LON:BEG) five years ago would have delivered you a 57% gain

Stock pickers are generally looking for stocks that will outperform the broader market. And in our experience, buying the right stocks can give your wealth a significant boost. For example, long term ( ) shareholders have enjoyed a 35% share price rise over the last half decade, well in excess of the market return of around 0.

6% (not including dividends). So let's investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress. In his essay Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business.



One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. Begbies Traynor Group's earnings per share are down 14% per year, despite strong share price performance over five years. Essentially, it doesn't seem likely that investors are focused on EPS.

Since the change in EPS doesn't seem to correlate with the change in share price, it's worth taking a look at other metrics. In contrast revenue growth of 17% per year is probably viewed as evidence that Begbies Traynor Group is growing, a real positive. In that case, the company may be sacrificing current earnings per share to drive growth.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values). We know that Begbies Traynor Group has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? This interactive report on Begbies Traynor Group's is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between (TSR) and .

The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Begbies Traynor Group's TSR for the last 5 years was 57%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier.

And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence! Investors in Begbies Traynor Group had a tough year, with a total loss of 13% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 12%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 9%, each year, over five years.

If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.

For instance, we've identified that you should be aware of. If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this.